Eminent South African veterinary virologists

Abstract

Virology is a relatively young scientific discipline only recognised at the Onderstepoort institute as a separate science in the mid-1950s by the establishment of an independent Section Virology. Before that, research on viruses was mainly carried out in its Section Protozoology and contributions were made by researchers in various other disciplines. For the present review important contributions to our knowledge of viruses and viral diseases will be discussed and only the main contributors identified. Fittingly the first breakthrough was the proof by Arnold Theiler in 1905 that the agent causing bluetongue {BT} in sheep is a virus by means of filterability studies, following in the footsteps of M’Fadyean who similarly proved in 1900 in London that African Horsesickness (AHS) is caused by a virus. Theiler also developed the first vaccines for both diseases consisting of infected blood from donor animals followed by hyper immune serum. He also developed the concept of antigenic multiplicity to explain failures after using the vaccines. (Read full abstract in the WAHVM 2020 proceedings https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/74425)